For Jacobean society, witchcraft was a potent and very real force, an area of sharp controversy in which King James I himself participated and a phenomenon that attracted many dramatists and
writers. The three plays in this book - Sophonisba, The Witch and The Witch of Edmonton - reflect the variety of belief in witches and practice of witchcraft in the
Jacobean period. Jacobean understanding of witchcraft is illuminated by the close study of these contrasting texts in relation to each other and to other contemporary works: The Masque of
Queenes; Dr Faustus; Macbeth and The Tempest. The introduction and detailed commentaries explore the considerable theatrical potential of plays which, with the
exception of The Witch of Edmonton, have been hitherto lost to the dramatic repertory.
